Weihenstephan...back to the drawing board!

[Ruy Lopez]

6. Secondary no more than 1 week, if not skip it altogether.

Just transferred after a week in primary. Bottle next weekend? I usually go two weeks in secondary, but that is with strong ales. This is my first wheat.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Just transferred after a week in primary. Bottle next weekend? I usually go two weeks in secondary, but that is with strong ales. This is my first wheat.

I'm actually now a fan of a week or two in the secondary for some bulk conditioning.

 

[Buford]

I am drinking my second all grain and first attempt at a wheat beer based on the recipe in this thread, and first try at decoction. I used WLP300 yeast, fermenting around 68 degrees. Not quite Weihenstephaner, but it's better than Erdinger

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

That looks amazing.

 

[Dude]

That looks amazing.

I'll second that...WOW. I want one right now!!!!!!!!

 

[Buford]

I'm going to do it again this coming weekend, but I thought I may try adding the 1 oz of Hallertau Hersbrucker (only hop addition) as first wort hops rather than at the 60 minute mark of the boil. Anyone tried using first wort hops on a hefe, and if so, how were the results as opposed to just using them straight in the boil?

 

[BoxerDog]

I am drinking my second all grain and first attempt at a wheat beer based on the recipe in this thread, and first try at decoction. I used WLP300 yeast, fermenting around 68 degrees. Not quite Weihenstephaner, but it's better than Erdinger

How do you rate Weihenstephaner with Paulaner and Spaten???

I personally love Paulaner.

 

[Buford]

I've never tried either of those so I can't say.

 

[BeerFan21]

I haven't had Weihenstephan yet but I have had Paulaner quite a few times. Paulaner is good - very flavorful, perhaps even slightly over the top? It's done well though; smooth and mostly balanced unlike a few micro versions that I think the brewers were trying too hard to impart flavor into the wheat beer (ie... Flying Dog In Heat Wheat) IMHO.

I am in love with Konig Ludwig Weissbier right now... I was just visiting Chicago and popped into Johnny's Kitchen and Tap in the Northbrook/Park Ridge area and they had it on tap. They even serve them in tall 20oz Konig Ludwig Weiss glasses (I was trying to buy a few from the owner but she wouldn't part with them).


Cheers!

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I've never even heard of Konig Ludwig...I'll have to check it out. Reminds me, I need to start thinking about a Hefeweizen brewday...

 

[Glibbidy]

Now you got me thinking about brewing up some Hefe as well, although I find it rather challenging to consider brewing one when we still have three feet of snow in the backyard.

 

[Kaiser]

Recently I came across some good information regarding brewing Bavarian Wheats. I'm going to make this a summer of wheats, homebrewed and over in Germany, and hopefully have some nice experiences that I can write up in a nice article about the style.

Kai

 

[TexLaw]

Y'all really should check out German Wheat Beer from the Classic Beer Styles series. Even at 15 years old, it is still an excellent source for information about German wheat styles.


TL

 

[Glibbidy]

Those classic beer style books are a great read. I have the Porter, Alt, and Stout books, and refer back to them often. They are timeless, and filled with very useful information.

 

[Kaiser]

Y'all really should check out German Wheat Beer from the Classic Beer Styles series. Even at 15 years old, it is still an excellent source for information about German wheat styles.

I have read that book and should read it again soon. But I feel that the subject may need some updated information. In particulat the usefulness of decoction has gotten some interesting recent studies.

Kai

 

[the_bird]

Those classic beer style books are a great read. I have the Porter, Alt, and Stout books, and refer back to them often. They are timeless, and filled with very useful information.

I just bought the Smoked Beer book, and it's outstanding. I've heard, though, that a few of them (notable the Oktoberfest book) aren't very good. Maybe we should start a separate thread on this series.....

 

[jvh261]

Just wanted to prost this thread as theres a lot of good info here.

My hefe is on day 3 of fermenting now. Used Wyeast 3068 and its around 66degrees. Planning on just leaving it in primary for 10 - 14 days and bottling. Brewing a Dunkel when I rack it for bottling and just dumping it on the yeast cake that same day.

 

[TexLaw]

I just bought the Smoked Beer book, and it's outstanding. I've heard, though, that a few of them (notable the Oktoberfest book) aren't very good. Maybe we should start a separate thread on this series.....

Just to keep this off topic for one more post, the Oktoberfest, Vienna, Marzen book is the only one in the series that I have ever heard anything bad about. All the others I can either rave about, first hand, or have heard good reviews. (The Smoked Beer one is great!)


TL

 

[BeerFan21]

http://www.koenig-ludwig.com/klw/koenig_ludwig_en.asp

I came across it while stationed in Germany. On a weekend leave, I visited the castle and brewery - it was a great weekend! I was drinking the dunkel at the time and have always been looking for it here in the states with no luck until recently.

Cheers!

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Kaiser and I relied pretty heavily on the CBS book on Hefeweizens when he was an NC resident and we were experimenting with brewing them. I'm probably going to try some modifications to this recipe this summer...something a little ruddier, maybe with a bit of Munich. I also didn't brew a Weizenbock this winter, and now I'm kind of regreting it

 

[DeathBrewer]

i bought some Weihenstephan tonight...the hefeweizen and the dunkelweizen. going to give them a taste test and see what the big deal is

(i think i've actually had this before, but couldn't remember...)

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

i bought some Weihenstephan tonight...the hefeweizen and the dunkelweizen. going to give them a taste test and see what the big deal is

(i think i've actually had this before, but couldn't remember...)

They're both very good. The first time I ever tried the Dunkel I was in grad school and had a Polish friend...he wanted me to go to a Polish restaurant that had opened with him, so I did. When we got there it was closed due to a ruptured pipe and the owner was in tears. I guess he was a little dramatic by nature and thought he was ruined because his restaurant was essentially flooded. My buddy spoke to him a bit in Polish and we wound up drinking all night with him (Weihenstephan Dunkels, on the house), and a week later he was opened up for business again.

Are there better Hefeweizens than Weihenstephan? Well, probably. I guess it really depends on your taste. But it is essentially the gold standard of the style to me, and a fantastic place to start.

 

[Cookiebaggs]

Just wanted to prost this thread as theres a lot of good info here.

My hefe is on day 3 of fermenting now. Used Wyeast 3068 and its around 66degrees. Planning on just leaving it in primary for 10 - 14 days and bottling. Brewing a Dunkel when I rack it for bottling and just dumping it on the yeast cake that same day.

I'm doing the exact same thing this Saturday. Steam mashing a hefe with a glucan rest, beta, alpha, and mashout, then following up with a dunkel to pitch on the cake at racking.

I did a single decoction with this recipie last year before I built the steam masher and it turned out great.


11.50 lbs. Wheat Malt
8.25 lbs. Pilsner
1.00 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt
1.00 lbs. Rice Hulls

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


1.40 oz. Hallertau Whole


WYeast 3056 Bavarian Wheat

 

[WBC]

I made 2 German Hef's this last summer. The first was fermented at 65F and had a nice clove to bananna balance and no off flavors, it was fabulous. The second one was the same recipe 50% wheet and 50% Pilsner and fermented at 70-72 and had way more bananna esters. Both used WLP300 yeast. Both were aged 4 weeks.

 

[DeathBrewer]

They're both very good. The first time I ever tried the Dunkel I was in grad school and had a Polish friend...he wanted me to go to a Polish restaurant that had opened with him, so I did. When we got there it was closed due to a ruptured pipe and the owner was in tears. I guess he was a little dramatic by nature and thought he was ruined because his restaurant was essentially flooded. My buddy spoke to him a bit in Polish and we wound up drinking all night with him (Weihenstephan Dunkels, on the house), and a week later he was opened up for business again.

Are there better Hefeweizens than Weihenstephan? Well, probably. I guess it really depends on your taste. But it is essentially the gold standard of the style to me, and a fantastic place to start.

well, the "original premium" actually has a bit of a lager taste. i can taste a lot of sulfur...it doesn't say anything about a weizen...perhaps this is their lager? maybe the store mislabeled? the bottle doesn't say it's a weizen. anyway...it's good. very low head retention...very clear. this HAS to be a lager...i'll probably drink the dunkel tomorrow and post again...

 

[DeathBrewer]

yeah, i think i got their lager...damn whole foods...

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/252/712

 

[Kaiser]

yeah, i think i got their lager...damn whole foods...

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/252/712

Yes, they make more than the Weizen.

I think that there is not one standard for Weizens. There are just so many nuances of flavor that you can get and you'll have to find one that you like most. Weihenstephan Weizen is heavy on the clove side, which I generally don't like so much. There are also neutral types (i think Erdinger is like that), fruity types (where you get the banana) and yeasty types (the aroma is more yeast like).

Kai

 

[the_bird]

Don't forget the smoked ones, Kai!

 

[DeathBrewer]

Yes, they make more than the Weizen.

I think that there is not one standard for Weizens. There are just so many nuances of flavor that you can get and you'll have to find one that you like most. Weihenstephan Weizen is heavy on the clove side, which I generally don't like so much. There are also neutral types (i think Erdinger is like that), fruity types (where you get the banana) and yeasty types (the aroma is more yeast like).

Kai

i actually like more of the clove flavor, i ferment my weizens on the low side. whole foods clearly had this marked as a hefeweizen in the aisle, though...i should see what they charged me for, lol.

 

[Kaiser]

i actually like more of the clove flavor, i ferment my weizens on the low side. whole foods clearly had this marked as a hefeweizen in the aisle, though...i should see what they charged me for, lol.

Is it also labeled as Weizen or Weissbier on the bottle?

Kai